According to a Lebanese security source, five members from a pro-Syrian Palestinian terrorist organization were murdered in an unintentional explosion at a location in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday.

Instead, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) accused Israel of conducting “overnight raids” at the facility in Qusaya, near Syria’s border. Israel vehemently denied any participation.

“An old rocket exploded in an arms depot on the base, killing five fighters,” a security source said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Damascus-based group has close ties with the Syrian government and its main Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and has bases in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

PFLP-GC spokesman Anwar Raja said Israel had carried out “overnight raids” on the base.
“Five fighters were killed,” he told AFP, adding that “for now we do not have more detailed information on the operation.”

The Israeli military, however, denied any involvement in the deadly blast.
“This is not IDF (Israeli army) activity,” a spokeswoman told AFP.

In August 2019, suspected Israeli strikes targeted the PFLP-GC in Qusaya.

In July 2015, a security official said a blast at a PFLP-GC base in Qusaya wounded seven people, while the Palestinian group blamed it on an Israeli strike.